COBWEB
Cobweb
Riis, now 90, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. His fascinating story began when he was just 14-years-old. During the Depression, Riis went to sea, sailing square-riggers around Cape Horn. Riis was an expert sailor, who obtained his master�s certificate in sailing as a young man.
In 1940, the Germans invaded Denmark. They had learned of Riis� reputation as a respected and capable sailor. Not surprisingly they offered him a job- and threatened his parents� lives if he didn�t accept. Riis� mission was to bring a letter to Iceland. Riis is of Icelandic descent. After training in Hamburg, Germany for three months, Riis� was informed his mission had changed. �Forget the letter, he was told. You�re going to bring a radio transmitter do Iceland�.
Riis was taken to the island of Helgoland, where he boarded a submarine with a German officer. They submerged and right away, surfacing only at night to recharge. �The men on the ship were some of the nicest guys I�ve ever met,� Riis noted. �Most of them were not Nazis. I had a high respect for them. We played poker. But I didn�t agree with what the Germans were doing and I always felt I wanted to get away.�
Once, depth-charges were dropped on Riis� submarine by British forces. But he eventually made it to Iceland on April 6, 1942.
Weather was rough, and Riis found himself lost in a blinding snowstorm. Almost frozen, he stumbled through snow flurries for 16 miles until he found a desolate farmhouse. He knocked gently on the door, almost ready to collapse. But when the Icelandic farmer spotted the swastika on his uniform, he slammed the door in Riis� face. The poor farmer panicked, reasoning the German invasion had begun. Tired and chilled to the bone, Riis banged on the door with his gun, shouting �I am a refugee from Norway.�
The farmer eventually let Riis in, and turned out to be �a very nice man� Once inside the warm farmhouse. Riis telephoned British authorities in Iceland. He was taken to Reykjavik, the capitol of Iceland, where he was interrogated by British officials.
A few days later, he was escorted to London, where he was placed in a concentration camp while British authorities checked his background. Once they believed he was who he claimed to be, they offered him a job as a double agent. His code name was Cobweb, because he sat like a spider, and his rank was lieutenant in the Royal Navy Voluntary Reserve.
Riis was sent back to Reykjavik, where he stayed with a British admiral. His duty was to send messages twice a day to the Germans by Morse code, via his radio transmitter. The trick: He only gave the Germans half truths.
Right before D-Day, Riis informed German officials that British and American forces would land in Norway as well as Normandy. With this news, Germany split its forces to prepare for both invasions. But Riis had outsmarted the Germans. The Allies arrived only in Normandy and wiped out the lean German troops.
After the war, most people would have expected Riis to receive royal treatment. Yet amazingly, British authorities turned their back on Riis. �The British had promised me British citizenship and a small ship,� Riis noted. �All I got was, �Thank you very much old boy � now get lost.� Strangely enough, the Germans treated me better than the British.�
For 25 years after the war, Riis was not allowed to contact British officials, due to legal rules of the Code of Silence. �I never got a cent,� Riis said. �I even had to pay my way back to Denmark. Is that any way to treat a war hero? I don�t regret what I did for the war effort.�
�The British had promised me British citizenship and a small ship,� Riis noted. �All I got was, �Thank you very much old boy � now get lost.� Strangely enough, the Germans treated me better than the British.�